Homemade almond & fig bread

Makes one large loaf | 30min (active) + 2h (passive) | Medium

We love bread. Being Scandinavian, that's almost a given, but we've sadly never been all that great at baking our own bread. It was about time we changed that, which is why we decided to start baking more bread this year, and here's our first attempt (well, first official attempt)!

Not being a butcher, a baker, or a candle-stick maker I can't say that I'm all that good at baking bread, but this recipe turned out so good that I had to share it with you! You'll also get to follow along with our improvements in bread baking, because we will be working towards getting better and better every day, and we'll post every recipe (maybe not the worst failures) along the way.

This is a very basic bread recipe that works well as a starting point, especially with the added flavour from the graham flour.

I decided to go with dried figs and almonds for that extra excitement, but feel free to experiment with adding any nuts or fruits you love!

The key to a good loaf of bread is the kneading and the patience in letting it rise for long enough. You can find a bunch of simple videos on youtube on how to knead bread if you feel unsure of yourself, but don't worry, it's not hard. You just have to be patient and thorough.

Baking your own bread is super fun and totally worth the time (when you have the time), and the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread is on the the top 5 smells in a home, which is a nice added benefit of baking your own, so have fun with it! And like I said, I'm definitely no expert, but I'm eager to learn and hope you are too - we can do this together! Let me know if you any tips that you've learned when baking your own bread, would love to hear them!

Have a great weekend!

xoxo,Anton

This loaf was gone two days after we baked it. It was really good.

Crumble the yeast into the water (make sure it's body temperature, so between 35-40°C)

Start adding the flour a little at a time, while stirring with a spatula

Once the dough is too sticky for a spatula it's time to get your hands dirty - continue by mixing the dough with your hands

Once you've added all of the ingredients the dough should not stick too much to the walls of your bowl, if it does, add a bit more flour

Chop the figs and almonds and add to the mixture, blend throughly so that they are as evenly spread in the dough as possible

Spread a bit of flour of your counter-top and scoop out the dough onto it

Start kneading the dough by rolling like you would a mat, and then turn it and roll lengthwise, repeat this until you feel the dough starting to get elastic

Work the dough until it is elastic enough that the dough "bounces back" if you press it lightly and it doesn't tear easily if you pull from the side, this should take about 10min of kneading

Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a kitchen towel, let the dough rise for 1 hour

Take the dough out and knead it again for 5-10min, then place the loaf on a baking tray, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 30min

Bake in the oven at 180°C for 30min

Optional: After baking halfway you can brush the bread with olive oil to give the crust a nice dark colour